The present invention relates to an apparatus for ejecting a caddy from a disk player, and more particularly to an apparatus for ejecting a caddy from a disk player when electricity has failed or the disk player is malfunctioning in order to easily remove the caddy.
In an optical disk player such as a Magneto optical disk player or a CD-ROM, or any disk player using a 3.5-inch magnetic diskette, when a disk caddy or cartridge is put into the player's front inlet, the caddy is automatically moved toward a turntable in the player, and then is taken out by pushing an eject button. A conventional mechanism for inserting and withdrawing such a caddy is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
According to FIG. 1, a holder 6 receives a caddy 12 which is placed onto a supporting plate 2, while a loader 5 is mounted between the supporting plate 2 and the holder 6. Loader 5 has a rack gear portion 5b and is connected to a motor 10 via a variable speed gear group 11. Motor 10 is driven in the forward or reverse direction in response to a sensor 13 mounted on one side of the rear of holder 6 and an eject button switch (not shown).
Also, referring to FIG. 2, L-shaped openings 2b are formed in a side wall 2a of supporting plate 2, and dog-legged slots 5d are formed in a side wall 5a of loader 5. Guide pins 6b placed on a side wall 6a of holder 6 are inserted into slots 5d and through openings 2b. Therefore, according to the movement of motor 10, holder 6 moves horizontally or vertically, while loader 5 moves horizontally, so that the caddy 12 inserted into holder 6 is mounted onto or separated from turntable 16. Here, reference numeral 4 designates a pickup unit.
In this structure, since motor 10 is driven to move loader 5, and loader 5 is moved in order to move holder 6, if power fails or the motor driving circuit is inoperative for some reason, neither loader 5 nor holder 6 can be moved. Therefore, to remove caddy 12 inserted in holder 6 during such a circuit failure, the apparatus must be disassembled and reassembled.